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Bresciano set for key role

Mark Bresciano is relishing the chance to secure Australia's third consecutive FIFA World Cup berth.

He'll be fundamental to the hopes of the Qantas Socceroos on Tuesday but Mark Bresciano is relishing the chance to secure his - and Australia's - third consecutive FIFA World Cup berth.

The 33-year-old midfield ace was immense in Saitama throughout Australia's 1-1 draw with Japan and, with the Qantas Socceroos hosting this time around, is again expected to be crucial to the chances of a green and gold triumph.

"I think if everyone performs on the night, I think we have a really good chance to win both games (Jordan in Melbourne and Iraq in Sydney) at home," said Bresciano.

"Football is a funny games sometimes, sometimes the result doesn't go your way, even though you do play your best, so we've just got to hope everything goes our way in both games.

"Personally I hope that they (Jordan) do come out and play open and not try to park the bus in front of the goals because I think personally as a team we play better when it's an open game."

Bresciano has spent the past two seasons of his illustrious domestic career in the Middle East and has crossed paths with a number of Jordan's star talents in such time.

Several Jordanians have contributed stints in the UAE Pro League or Qatari Stars League in recent times, competitions that Bresciano has dominated with Al Nasr (UAE) and most recently Al Gharafa (Qatar).

Throughout Bresciano's stint in the Gulf, the former Serie A star has gained a unique insight into the football style of the region, which frustratingly, is sometimes defined by turgid time-wasting tactics that Bresciano hopes to avoid on Tuesday .

"I'm thinking if they have the result they want, they're going to do the same thing (time-wasting)," said Bresciano.

"That's part of their tactics, but we've just got to hope that they're never going to get in that situation.

"We're hoping from when the referee blows the whistle that we can hurt them."

Another Qantas Socceroo with significant experience in the Middle East is defender Sasa Ognenovski - another standout against Japan last Tuesday.

Ognenovski has been captain of Qatari Stars League club Umm-Salal since joining the club earlier this year and is well aware of what quality Jordan are capable of offering, if not the names of their players.

"I don't know them by name, unfortunately," said Ognenovski, when asked to name Jordan's star players.

"There's a few boys that run around in the Qatari Stars League that I've seen play but I'm not sure of the names.

"They're going to come into the game wanting to win because they know if they win they've got one foot in the door of the FIFA World Cup."

The Qantas Socceroos will conclude the current stage of Asian qualifiers upon their return home, firstly to face Jordan at Melbourne-s Docklands Stadium on Tuesday, 11 June. Kick off is at 7pm AEST. Click here to buy tickets.

Finally, the Qantas Socceroos will host Iraq at Sydney-s Stadium Australia on Tuesday, 18 June. Kick off is at 7.30pm AEST. Click here to buy tickets.